Per the court order, the current owner of the painting, who bought it during the 2024 auction, will be required to return the painting to the family of its original owner.
Follow us on GoogleA Paris court has ordered that a painting by Camille Pissarro be returned to the descendants of Jewish banker and art collector Salomon Flavian, French media outlet Le Figaro reported on Thursday.
The painting was reportedly stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War.
The court found that the Flavian family had provided sufficient evidence that the painting, The Port of Dieppe, had been confiscated from their ancestor by Nazi officers in 1941. They also proved that Salomon had made substantial efforts to recover his painting after the war ended.
The ruling said that "all successive sales of the disputed painting since its spoliation are null and void, including the sale that took place in London on June 25, 2024, and ordered the restitution of the work, wherever it may be found and in whoever's hands it may be," Le Figaro reported.
Recent appearance of the painting in London
The painting, which hadn't been in circulation for years, appeared at a Sotheby's auction in London in 2024, where it sold for £1.2 million (5 million NIS).
The court ordered Sotheby's to reveal the full identity of the 2024 buyer to Flavian's descendants within two months. Sotheby's will face a fine of 3,550 NIS per day after the two months are up.
Per the order, the current owner of the painting, who bought it during the 2024 auction, will be required to return the painting to the family of its original owner.
Sotheby's “silence prevents Salomon Flavian’s heirs from asserting their right to restitution from the subsequent purchaser of the disputed artwork, and contravenes the primary objective of the April 21, 1945, ordinance concerning the restitution in kind of looted property to the victims or their heirs,” the court statement explained.
Controversy surrounding the case
The Art Newspaper reported that the legal action wasn't taken with the consent and involvement of all relevant family members, but rather was led by Gilles and Nicholas Flavian, while the rest had not been contacted.
Despite the court ruling, Mondex Corporation consultant James Palmer told ARTNews that an appeal will be filed “forthwith," countering the Flavian family's claim. Palmer said that the archives of dealer Paul Rosenberg and the 1939 Pissarro catalogue raisonné “both clearly identify [British artist and collector] Edward Le Bas as the owner of the painting from 1939 to the early 1950s.”
“Of great importance is the fact that France currently lacks a formal restitution framework, which disadvantages both the state and claimants,” he added.
“These crucial facts were not commented upon by the court in its decision and can therefore be presumed to have been given no significant consideration, which is a flaw in the judicial assessment of the case," Palmer told ARTNews. "We are confident that when the vast amount of complex provenance research evidence is properly understood and considered, the Court of Appeal will reach a different conclusion.”
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · ESTHER DAVIS
At a glance
- Topic
- World
- Country
- 🇮🇱 IL
- Publisher language
- EN
- Added to Allnira